Caribou Coffee

Back on Sunday September 13^th, I stopped by Caribou Coffee to get two (2) doughnuts and large coffee with a full shot of hazelnut. The store was very busy and it took a while to place my order which is no problem. When placing the order I was also told something about the perks not being available but no big deal either.
I waited, waited, and waited for my coffee to arrive, however, after watching person after person receive their beverage, I didn’t receive mine. Sadly, I had to get to work and simply returned to the counter and asked where my coffee was and they had no idea that it even existed. I then inquired about a refund and that I had to leave. None of the three (3) employees knew how to give a refund and I would simply have to stop back later.
HERE IS WHERE I HAVE PROBLEMS. First, they had no knowledge that I was waiting for a beverage. But the biggest problem is that no apology was ever given during either encounter at the store level and I feel that to be totally unacceptable.
What sticks with me is that I should be lucky that your company allows me to come into their store and buy food and coffee. Guess what? I am returning back to Starbuck’s and now going to Dunn Brothers, and even to McDonald’s whenever a Starbuck’s/Dunn’s is not convenient. What is really sad is that a fast food establishment can give me better service with a better attitude than Caribou.
I did give the district manager an opportunity to reach out and while I understand her frustrations, I am actually still peeved of that encounter a few weeks ago.
In closing, the image that Caribou portrays is not consistent with what I experienced yesterday and can actually say that your company is nothing more than a Starbuck’s/Dunn’s wannabee.

I go to this Caribou fairly often, and the service has always been friendly. A networking group of friends and I go here almost weekly, so it is pretty often — — maybe a few different barista faces but they’re always friendly and nice.
I always try to answer the trivia question to get another 10c off… and I usually guess wrong, ha!
This isn’t your normal Caribou location, as it’s off of the Lunds grocery store. (Well, we do have a few of those in Mpls — — so i guess it’s halfway-​normal for us here.)
Don’t forget to use your Caribou Perks card to scoop up some cool complimentary offers from time-​to-​time.

I enjoy Caribou. I enjoy their products. I enjoy their baristas. They are fabulous – but the moody annoyed worker that worked Saturday, March 30^th at 5:30pm with the scowl on her face and awful customer service will have me NEVER coming back. Trust me, no need for a name, you’ll know exact who she is if you come across her.

This place bothered me. I came in the middle of the day hoping for a tasty baked good and they only had 2 options remaining. The staff seemed displeased to be there, and I left unhappy with a leftover banana chocolate chip muffin that was mostly stale. :(

I tried to like Caribou. But every time I went there I was dissapointed.
My last two visits
I got an espresso frappucino. I asked for the smallest size. Caribous small is equivalent to Starbucks’ medium. Thus, it costs more and I could not finish the whole thing. Furthermore, my espresso drink tasted more like caramel and sugar. Very little taste of coffee, and the little hint at coffee was overpowered with sugar, sugar and more sugar. Was I chewing on a cube of sugar or drinking a coffee drink? It was soo sweet, I could not finish even ¹⁄₃ of the small.
Tried the black ice tea. Same as lipton 20 bags for $ 1.99. I actually think I like lipton better. Tea had a weird after taste. I know a thing or two about tea, and Starbucks teas arent the best in the world, but much much better then what you get at Caribou. Plus, Caribou is more expensive.
Service was ok, not too friendly, but friendly enough.
Starbucks all the way.

Dear Caribou,
I’m sorry, but I loathe you. I’d rather drink sewage from an overweight city than order your coffee. Your baristas are nice because you tell them to be and your atmosphere is overrated.
Sincerely, me

Seattle has Starbucks, Minneapolis has Caribou. Its tough to talk about Caribou without drawing comparisons of the two. Not only do they both provide similar food and drink products, they both offer customers a trendy place to enjoy those products. The 2^nd biggest operator in the industry is relatively tiny Caribou Coffee. Caribou has under 500 stores compared to Starbuck’s 9,000!
Decades ago, coffee shops were mom and pop operations, and were much less popular and common than they are nowadays. Starbucks has grown coffee consumption overall, but also has changed consumer habits in that they are more likely to drop by Starbucks for their fix than they are to tap the office or home coffeepot. I like strong coffee. With the absence of any great mom and pop shop or italian café my choices are unfortunately limited.
For me, Caribou wins out over Starbucks. It’s not that Starbucks is bad coffee, i dont see a huge difference between the two. Perhaps i just like to root for the underdog who also happens to annoys me less. Seems to sell coffee, shops have to bring more than just coffee. They have to appeal to the customer. Starbucks does this by appealing to the suburbanite and corporate crowd but also manages to somehow draw in the indie crowd: their integration with iPods, and Indie music, for example. I dont want to be pushed a music cd or new starbucks logo overpriced mug when buying my coffee. Caribou is «less» commercial and pretentious and i prefer that. I also dig the Denali log cabin feel to the place, its different, especially since i live in New England.
Admitting this is not a compelling case to favor Caribou. To add, Caribou is in a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance. Caribou is planning to offer only coffees that are composed of 100% Rainforest Alliance certified beans by the end of 2011. On the opposite side of the spectrum what can starbuck’s «beloved» fair trade coffee say? «We trade fair»? Well congratulations on not ripping people off?

yknow what. here’s the deal. Caribou serves up better drinks, in a nicer atmosphere, with better service, than starbucks or any other random coffee chain.
Their light roast is great when I feel like a need a quick coffee jolt for studying but my heart truly belongs to the caribou cooler (summer and spring) and apple cider (fall and winter).
if given the choice, I will ALWAYS go to Caribou. This particular location is confusing though, because they close at 9 and the starbucks directly across the street closes at 1030. At 9:01 there was a mass exodus into the starbucks… which begs the question, why oh why caribou wont you stay open later?!

The fact that this place is close to the lakes is reason enough for me to enjoy it. If it’s too crowded inside, I can just walk a couple of blocks and go sit on the beach.
The service here was not bad. The gentleman who made my drink was very nice and made me feel welcome.
After I went to sit down though, one of the girls working was making a racket near me vacuuming and cleaning. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand that you have to do your job but they weren’t due to close for 5 hours. I’m sure she could have waited to vacuum right next to me…
I’m in customer service myself and I know how rude this is. I’ll give this place another chance but I hope I don’t get anymore weird situations.

Oh how I love Caribou! This is what I practically grew up on! I had Caribou before I even knew what Starbucks was. My favorite drink to get at Caribou is their Mocha with skim milk or their mint conditions with skim milk! Caribou produces the best mocha’s I’ve ever sipped on! The only thing I’m disappointed about is there are no Caribou’s in Tennessee and Nashville is in desperate need of one! PLEASE COME TO NASHVILLE! I always have to get my fix whenever I visit home in Minnesota and that is not often!

This is my favorite Caribou Coffee because it feels a bit less like a chain. I’m not big on chain coffee; however, there are very few local cafes in my area and this is just a stone’s throw away from my father’s house.
The staff has alway been friendly and given me exactly what I’ve ordered. Sometimes they throw in extra sprinkles, or oreo, or whipped cream when they recognize me as a regular. I love the coolers and chai tea lattes. Their scones and gingerbread are particularly delicious.
My favorite part about this location is that it’s smaller, cozier and built more like a cabin than other Caribou Coffee stores.